Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said the government was negotiating 44 more oil and gas agreements, on top of 61 already signed. She made the announcement Thursday, 8 October, at the opening of the 82nd annual assembly of Fedecámaras, the country’s main federation of business chambers. Government officials and business leaders gathered in Caracas for the event.
The agreements put control over energy resources and investment at the center of talks between the state and private businesses. But officials haven’t named the companies behind the 44 pending deals or disclosed their value. Negotiations aren’t signed contracts. The announcement doesn’t mean the deals are complete.
Deals Announced, Details Withheld
Rodríguez said Venezuela expects about US$12 billion in public and private financing over two years. She said the government had restored ties with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, while maintaining its relationship with CAF, the Latin American development bank. She provided no breakdown by lender or private bank.
Rodríguez said the money should reach large, medium and small firms, as well as entrepreneurs. The expected beneficiaries were named broadly; the lenders and amounts were not. The U.S. is the largest shareholder in the IMF and World Bank, and any new lending to Caracas would pass through boards where Washington holds the biggest vote. Venezuela’s energy deals also remain subject to U.S. sanctions rules. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control last amended its Venezuela general licences Monday, 28 September.
A day before Rodríguez’s announcement, California-based Pacific Coast Energy Company announced agreements worth about US$3.5 billion with state oil firm PDVSA. The company said it took over the Delta and Cabimas oil blocks, where production started at about 19,300 barrels a day. It aims to double output within six months and reach a peak of 150,000 to 160,000 barrels a day.
Promises Meet Power Outages
Rodríguez said the 105 signed and pending agreements could create about 320,000 jobs within four years, TalCual reported. She also said oil production had grown 8% so far this year. Neither figure came with a published breakdown. The government figures couldn’t be independently checked.
For people facing blackouts, the electricity crisis is more immediate. Outages can exceed 10 hours. Venezuela has seen protests over them. Rodríguez blamed twin earthquakes on 24 June for damaging 800 megawatts of capacity and said crews had restored 600 megawatts. She said agreements with General Electric and the company INSA would add 7,400 megawatts over time.
A reform of the electricity law would let private companies invest in power generation, transmission and distribution. Rodríguez said the reform would come “in the coming days, weeks,” and no later than this year. She also promised tax reform to “harmonise” the tax burden, but gave no date. The government hasn’t published the texts of either proposed reform.
Currency, Credit and the Business Agenda
Rodríguez rejected calls from some business leaders to make the U.S. dollar Venezuela’s official currency. “It is not dollarization that will solve Venezuela’s problem,” she said, according to Efecto Cocuyo. She said the gap between official and parallel exchange rates fell from 65.7% in January to 11.7% in October. She also said she wanted to narrow it further “with international banking, with US banking,” TalCual reported.
Fedecámaras had asked the government to address public services, credit and taxes, El Nacional reported. Its assembly continued Friday, 9 October. Rodríguez also announced that the Christmas season would officially begin on 1 November, saying the early start would boost retail activity in the last quarter.
The source says Rodríguez was Nicolás Maduro’s vice president and has led Venezuela as acting president since U.S. forces captured him in January. The energy opening after his capture is continuing. But the promised financing, jobs and electricity capacity remain proposals or government figures, not independently verified outcomes.